Showcase: Task Force X: Extreme Justice

Summary

April, 1986: The U.S. President asks Rick Flag to form a secret directive within the Metahuman Rehabilitation Agency called Task Force X, or Extreme Justice, for high-risk, covert missions. A clone of Manhunter (Paul Kirk) is the field leader of the Extreme Justice team, while Amanda Waller is the administrator of Task Force X. The first recruits are the Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and Deathstroke the Terminator. Together, Extreme Justice infiltrates a militant cult called the Church of the Determined Spirit and discovers Hector Hammond is behind it. The team defeats the cult, while Hammond is imprisoned in space by the Green Lantern Corps. [“Showcase: Task Force X: Extreme Justice”]

Full summary:

April, 1986: Rick Flag, director of the Metahuman Rehabilitation Agency (MRA), is reviewing the latest case of Captain Comet's Rehab Squad when he is summoned to the White House. There, the U.S. President congratulates Flag on the success of the Rehab Squad but wants to form a secret second team for covert operations. Calling this MRA initiative Task Force X, the team is nicknamed Extreme Justice. One of the remaining clones of Manhunter (Paul Kirk) is made the Extreme Justice field team leader, while Amanda Waller is made the Task Force X administrator working under Flag. The three discuss the team's first lineup – Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and Deathstroke the Terminator. [“Showcase: Task Force X: Extreme Justice, Chapter 1: Covert Ops”]

One week later, Waller prepares the Extreme Justice team for its first mission against the Church of the Determined Spirit, a militant extremist group preparing for revolution led by Brother Andrew Forsythe. The Bronze Tiger arrives as another team member. Boomerang, Deadshot, and Deathstroke soon infiltrate the church under false names. Brother Andrew Forsythe makes a stirring speech as the Extreme Justice infiltrators watch. Forsythe visits the “angel” underneath the compound responsible for his cult's success, and the angel warns him of infiltrators. After no Vietnam War record of Deathstroke's alias can be found, Manhunter uses a computer link to access falsified records that absolve him of suspicion. The Extreme Justice infiltrators plan a strategy to defeat Forsythe and the Church. [“Showcase: Task Force X: Extreme Justice, Chapter 2: Church of the Determined Spirit”]

Elsewhere, Amanda Waller and the Bronze Tiger confer. The “angel” tells Forsythe that he has metahumans in his midst. The next morning, Deathstroke and Manhunter are brought to see the “angel,” who turns out to be Hector Hammond. Meanwhile, Brother Andrew Forsythe begins the cult's march to glory on Washington, D.C., where he plans to bring down the government by force. Deadshot and Captain Boomerang make plans to stop the cultists. As Hector Hammond gloats over his plans, Manhunter is revealed to be posing as the Manhunter clone who once helped Captain Comet against the Secret Society of Super-Villains, but in fact he is another clone. As Forsythe prepares to start the cult's march, a spring mechanism rigged by Boomerang catapults him into the air. In the ensuing chaos, Captain Boomerang and Deadshot begin taking down the other leaders. After Deathstroke causes an explosion that knocks out Hector Hammond, Deathstroke and Manhunter escape and rendezvous with the others to leave via a helicopter piloted by the Bronze Tiger. One week later, at the mission briefing, Hector Hammond is revealed to be recaptured by the JLA, who transferred him into the Green Lantern Corps' hands, who took him into space for imprisonment. The cult followers have been sent home, except for the worst, who are imprisoned. [“Showcase: Task Force X: Extreme Justice, Chapter 5: March to Glory”]